


a thousand times the worse, to want thy light

by saltandlimes



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Blow Jobs, Dirty Talk, M/M, Smoking, a delicious blend of new wave and classic kylux
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-25
Updated: 2017-06-25
Packaged: 2018-11-19 01:49:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11303247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saltandlimes/pseuds/saltandlimes
Summary: Freelance writer Kylo Ren keeps seeing the same man in the alley behind his apartment building. When he finally decides to go downstairs and meet him, Kylo can't help but become fascinated.





	a thousand times the worse, to want thy light

**Author's Note:**

> Sometimes you get an idea in your head, and no matter how you try to avoid writing it, it comes back to bite you. I've been bitten.

Kylo looks over the edge of the railing. The night is pitch black, only the glimmer of a streetlight down the way to pierce the dark. His computer glows in front of him, and for a moment he’s blinded by it, eyes too used to its light to make out anything below him. Slowly, though, his eyes adjust. The alley below him is almost empty, and he can hear rats scuffling in the trash, the soft rustle of their paws only just audible over the hiss of air conditioners. 

As he listens, there’s a crunch of footsteps from down the way. A man wanders into view, clothes dark against the night, darker than the black air. He glances around, as if looking for something, then hops up on the cinderblock wall that borders the alley. Kylo leans farther forward. The man is the only other person about, this late, the three AM air too early for anyone else to be awake. 

There’s a flare of golden light, then a soft crackle, and a cigarette glows in the man’s hands. Kylo smiles a little. It’s the third time this week he’s seen the man, watched as the edges of his face light in the glow of flame. He watches for long moments, as the man crosses and uncrosses his legs. They’re narrow things, hanging over the edge of the wall, close fitting trousers muffling the sight of skin. Kylo still hasn’t decided whether or not the man is wearing jeans. He’d thought so the first night, but then he’d noticed the shoes. They’re too nice for jeans, at least from the small glimpses he’s caught when the light just barely catches them. 

The man swings his legs slowly, heels tapping against the concrete of the wall. He blows out smoke, and it’s a soft grey in the deep dark of the night. Kylo licks his lips. He’s written a million stories in his mind, invented a thousand reasons why the man is all alone out here, with only the dead end of night to keep him company. A spy, a hitman, a drug dealer, a writer, and a dreamer. The man has been them all in his mind, each one in turn and all of them at once. He flicks hair out of his eyes, trying to get a better look at the man’s face. He’s only been able to make out sharp cheekbones and light hair, sometimes golden in the light, sometimes deep orange like flame. It’s enough to build a picture in his mind, though, enough to write a story. 

The man tips back his head, shifting on his perch. Kylo leans even farther forward over the railing. The cigarette is glowing fitfully, and as he watches, the man stubs it out on the block next to him. Then he hops off the wall, landing with a thump on the ground. Kylo laughs under his breath as the rats skitter across the alley, and the man looks up. 

“Sweet dreams,” Kylo calls down.

The man scoffs loudly enough that Kylo can hear, then stalks away.

***

The man doesn’t appear out back for four days. Kylo begins to wonder if he startled him off, but then reminds himself that most people actually use the night to sleep. It’s far more likely that the man has simply chosen to adopt a normal schedule, one that accommodates the twists and turns of real life, of the flow of the world. 

He’s gotten a new project, copy for advertising materials for a longterm client, and it’s making his eyes ache, the research almost too much to do. He’s been sifting through information about the action figure market for hours, and he has yet to come up with any good spin to put on his client’s products that will make Target and Walmart more likely to carry the new line. He hates B2B jobs, hates the way that he can’t reach out the readers like he can when he writes articles. But they pay well, better than journalism usually does, and so he’s up to his eyeballs in market research and product details. 

He flicks between screens on his computer, trying to compile things to draft the pieces. He’s so lost in his work that at first Kylo doesn’t notice the scuffles from the alley below. It’s only when he hears a soft swear that he looks over the railing. The apartment below him has a light on, and he can see the man picking himself up off the ground down in the alley. Kylo smiles. 

“You ok?” he calls down. 

The man looks up at him, and for the first time Kylo catches a full glimpse of his face. He can tell, even in the dark, that it’s pale, a pinched face that sees far too little sun. The man says nothing. He simply glares at Kylo, dusting his hands off on his trousers. Kylo chuckles under his breath. What a little jerk. 

He turns back to his work, trying not to look over the railing at the man. There’s something fascinating about that narrow face and tense shoulders. Something that makes the edges of his hairline sweat a little and his mouth quirk upward when he thinks of the man. Maybe it’s the absurdity of someone else being awake at this time of night. But maybe it’s the way the man swings his legs when he sits on the rough wall just outside Kylo’s apartment. Whatever it is, it pulls Kylo away from his computer to glance over the railing again. 

The man is back on the wall, a cigarette clamped between his fingers and red hair falling in his face. Kylo can see it now, bright in the thin light from below. It seems to glow, just like the heart of the ember at the end of the man’s cigarette. Kylo has always liked red hair. When he was little, his mother told him a story about how, back when she lived in Europe, growing up, her parents told her that red hair was lucky. A gift, something that came from somewhere not quite normal. 

She was wrong, of course, just like she was wrong about so many things. There are no magical gifts from beyond. But the story has stuck with Kylo all these years, and he can’t help but remember it now. The man is ethereal, appearing in the dark, the light only barely caressing his features. It’s enough that Kylo almost wants to believe. 

As he muses, the man finishes smoking. There’s a thump as he hops off the wall, more graceful now. Kylo smiles down, watching the man walk, stick straight and tall down the alley. 

“Have a nice night,” he says, voice echoing down the narrow open space below him. 

The man turns, glaring again. But then Kylo catches, just barely at the edge of hearing, the sound of a British accent. 

“You too.” 

***

Kylo looks for the man after that. When he fell asleep last night, just an hour after hearing the man’s voice for the first time, it haunted his dreams. He’d woken to vague images of red hair and narrow hips, and a low murmur of a voice wrapping about himself. They slipped away as he went through his day, driven out by work and the sound of Kylo’s own voice as he wrote, but now, looking over the railing in the hopes the man is there, they seem to come back in fitful fragments. 

At two AM there’s no one there. The rats scrabble in the trash, soft scuffling noises all that Kylo can hear from below himself. He’s close to being done with his project, just editing now, and distracted by every stirring below him. He pulls his hoodie closer about himself, the night strangely cool, especially for early summer. 

He’s deleting a few lines, lip clenched between his teeth when he hears a rustle from below him. He glances over the railing, and there the man is, walking down the alley slowly, glancing up every now and then. The light isn’t on tonight, and Kylo can just barely make him out well enough to tell it’s the same person. He takes a deep breath. 

The railing is cool under his fingers as Kylo stands and swings himself over it. He crouches down, then grabs the lip of the porch, hanging off. With his arms fully extended, it’s not that far a drop to the ground, and he lets himself down quickly. Gravel crunches under his feet as he lands in a crouch. When he looks up, the man is staring at him, shoulders drawn in and body tense. 

“Hi,” Kylo says, a little lamely. 

“What are you doing?” the man asks, not coming any closer. 

“Thought I might come down and keep you company,” Kylo replies, voice rasping after not being used all day. 

“Have you thought that I might be out at two in the morning because I don’t want company?” 

The man’s tone is snide, but he stalks a little closer, towards his usual spot on the wall. Kylo grins. 

“I considered it, but I decided to come down anyway.”

“Arrogant,” the man scoffs.

Kylo bristles. The man doesn’t even know him. He steps closer, drawing himself up. 

“I was trying to be neighborly.”

“At two?”

“Yes.”

The man laughs. It’s a thin sound, unused, punching out of him to hang in the air between them. He’s smiling though, and his eyes crinkle up at the corners. 

“Alright then. What’s your name, neighbor?”

Kylo walks over to him, hopping up on the wall next to him. 

“Kylo Ren,” he says.

“What?” the man exclaims. 

“Kylo Ren,” he repeats more slowly. “You know, like the Ren Collective? Online?”

“That alternative journalism site?”

“Yeah. That’s me.”

“I didn’t think that was actually a name.”

“It’s mine.” Kylo says nothing else. There’s no reason to drag this man into the saga of his name, his mother, the challenges of being a writer who people only wanted to read because he was Ben Organa, Leia Organa’s son. It was much better this way, better to be only himself and nothing more. 

“Hux,” when Kylo looks at him, eyebrows raised, the man clears his throat. “My name. It’s Hux.”

“And you thought Kylo Ren was odd.”

“Hux is a last name. I don’t particularly care for my given name.”

“Alright, _Hux,_ ” Kylo says.

Hux pulls out his cigarette, glancing over at Kylo. 

“Aren’t you going to ask if I mind?” Kylo asks.

“Seeing as you jumped down here to sit with me while I smoke, I don’t think so.”

“You’re a bit of an asshole, Hux. Has anyone ever told you that?”

Hux coughs, choking on smoke, sputtering a little. When he seems to regain his breath, he turns to Kylo, staring. 

“Yes,” he says flatly. “And I don’t particularly mind.”

“Good,” Kylo grins. 

Hux’s lips quirk a little around the cigarette, just the faintest hint of a smile. 

“So why are you up at this time, staring over your porch railing down at me?” he asks. 

“I work best at night,” Kylo shrugs. 

“You’re working up there? Writing more exposes of politicians?”

“Actually I’m doing marketing copy. Boring, but I have to pay the bills somehow.”

Hux laughs now, not just a chuckle, not just a scoff. But a full bellied laugh, shaking his shoulders and making him rest his free hand on the cinderblocks, holding himself there. 

“You, a writer for the Ren Collective, are writing marketing copy?”

“We’re not anti-marketing!” Kylo exclaims. 

“No. But it still sounds a little funny. You have to admit that.”

Kylo nods. It is, but he has to eat, and pay off his student loans, and somehow pay for his rent and internet. He sits up a little straighter. 

“Well, what do you do that’s keeping you up so late, anyway?” he asks, trying to fire off the question before Hux laughs about something else. 

“Engineer. We’re trying to win a defense contract. Got to finish up my plans before the deadline.”

Kylo looks him over. Hux looks too well dressed to be an engineer, too put together. But as he tips back his head to blow smoke out above them, Kylo catches a faint glimpse of the dark circles under his eyes, the aching curves of sleepless nights that have been graven into his skin. 

“Got any competitors you’re worried about?” he asks.

“A few. We’ve got to deliver on this - it’ll make First Order Industries the global leader, for certain.” 

Kylo’s stomach flips over. 

“Snoke’s company?”

Hux nods. 

“He backs the Ren Collective, you know?” Kylo raises an eyebrow.

Hux laughs again, this time dry and cracking.

“Of course. I sometimes think Snoke owns half the country.”

“Maybe,” Kylo mutters. If Snoke owns half, his mother controls the other half, even if she doesn’t outright own it. A mess and a half, and he just wants out of it all at this point. 

Hux seems to catch something in his eye, because he turns more fully to Kylo, waving the cigarette a little as he waves his hand up and down. 

“Did you really jump down from there just to talk to me?”

“Nah. Wanted to chat with the rats, but you showed up too soon,” Kylo keeps his voice flat.

“Bullshit,” Hux tells him. “How are you going to get back up?”

“Well I thought about going back in the front door, but since I don’t have my keys, I guess I’ll just have to climb.”

“The building?”

“Yeah, why not? It’s not that far. If I stand on the railing below and reach up I can pull myself onto my porch,” Kylo measures with his eyes as he talks. 

Hux tosses the cigarette onto the ground, hopping down and grinding the butt under his shoe. 

“Show me,” he says. 

Kylo gets down as well. There is fire in Hux’s eyes. His voice pitches higher in disbelief, but he stands, legs wide, watching Kylo.

“Fine,” Kylo says. He goes over to the porch below his. The railing shakes a little below his feet as he steps up onto it, but he catches the bottom of his own porch and pulls himself upward before he can think to much about it. Then it’s a simple matter of hopping his own railing. He grins down at Hux triumphantly. 

Hux smiles, face just barely visible in the shadows below.

“Goodnight, Kylo Ren,” he says.

“W-” Kylo starts, then laughs. “Very sneaky, Hux. And goodnight to you as well.”

***

They meet outside five more times that week. Kylo goes to bed early one night, trying to get enough sleep before an editorial board meeting at noon the next day. But after that, he hops the railing each night, landing in the alley just as Hux walks down to take his late night break. After that first time, Kylo always remembers his keys, though, slipping them into his pocket before he goes out on the porch to work. 

Hux is witty, in a sort of deadpan, dry way. At first, Kylo doesn’t realize when he’s joking. He bristles instead, shoulders drawing up and fists clenching at his sides. But after a few blushes, a few snickers from Hux, he relaxes, grinning back in the darkness. 

There’s something enthralling about Hux. Kylo doesn’t want to call it attraction, doesn’t quite feel the same stirring in his belly as he has in the past when he was attracted to someone. But there’s something that makes him want to lean closer when Hux speak, makes him want to challenge that sneer and that dry smile. His fingers itch with the need to know what they would feel like touching the gold of Hux’s hair. His sides ache with the effort of not slumping against Hux when they meet outside. And his palm sweats when he offers it to Hux, helping him off the wall. 

Hux seems not to notice. 

That is, Kylo doesn’t think he notices until they’ve been meeting up for a week and a half. It’s a littler earlier than they usually meet, but Kylo hears the sound of Hux’s feet as he makes his way down the alley. He glances down, and there he is, hair occasionally glimmering as it catches the thin light of the streetlight. Kylo’s lips tip upwards, almost without him noticing. He grabs the railing and drops over. 

“Kylo,” Hux calls. 

“Having a good night?” Kylo asks. 

“Passable. I’ve finished the first stage of the proposal. I think I’m celebrating a little.”

“Yeah? Going to bed early or something?”

“I have a bit of a different sort of celebration in mind,” Hux murmurs. He hops up onto the wall, lighting his cigarette quickly. Kylo hears the hiss as he inhales, watching as Hux’s lips purse on the exhale. He jumps up beside Hux, so close he can feel the heat of Hux’s skin glowing against his own. 

“Think Snoke will like it?” 

“I don’t really care what that dinosaur wants. It’s exactly what Defense is looking for, and that’s going to win us the bid, not whatever backroom politicking Snoke tries.”

“You really think he’d do that?”

“Snoke would do whatever he needed to make sure we got the contract. Legal or not.”

Kylo bites his lip. He knows Snoke’s been involved in some shady dealings, but he was the only one willing to bankroll the Ren Collective when Kylo pitched the idea. He’s shaken free from his musings when Hux leans in towards him.

“Let’s not talk about that,” he whispers in Kylo’s ear. 

Kylo shivers. Hux’s breath is hot against his skin, creeping across his neck and making goosebumps spring up on his skin. 

“W-what do you want to talk about then?” he stutters a little. 

“Celebrating,” Hux’s voice seems deeper than usual. He taps ash off the end of his cigarette, fingers long and delicate as they wrap around it. 

“How are you planning on doing that?” Kylo asks. 

“I have a few ideas,” Hux takes a long drag. “Would you like to come back to my apartment after this and see?”

Kylo’s stomach turns over, and he sits up a little straighter. He twists to look at Hux, raising an eyebrow. 

“Not worried about taking me back there?”

“Not worried about what you’ll find?” Hux mocks. 

“No.”

“Maybe you should be,” Hux stubs out his cigarette. 

Kylo jumps off the wall, holding out his hand. When Hux takes it, his fingers clench tight. They are just as thin as they look, narrow and arching as then slide in Kylo’s palm. But his grip is strong, and Kylo thinks that it wouldn’t be a simple matter to pull away. He doesn’t have to, though, because Hux sets off down the alley, dropping his hand in the process. Kylo thinks absently about putting away his computer before following Hux, but Hux glances over his shoulder, eyes narrowing as though he doesn’t believe Kylo is really going to come, and Kylo shakes himself. He’s getting to see Hux’s apartment. It’s time to go. 

***

Hux lives at the opposite end of the apartment block. They go in the back door, turning off the main hall into one of the first floor flats. Hux fumbles a little with his keys, but then pushes open the door, flicking on the light as they both step inside. 

It’s the first time Kylo has seen Hux’s face completely clearly. 

It’s less harsh in this light, the hollows under his cheeks less pronounced. He pulls off his shoes, and Kylo follows suit, still tracing over Hux with his eyes. Hux is in a thin grey t-shirt, and it’s tight enough that it clings to him, following the soft curve of his waist, the arch of his belly, and stopping at the harsh line of his trousers. Those fit closely as well, falling over his narrow hips. Kylo’s painfully aware of his ratty sweatshirt and ripped jeans, but Hux doesn’t even seem to notice. Instead, he turns to Kylo. 

“So,” he says, stepping closer.

Kylo’s breath speeds, even as he tries to calm himself. Hux is so close, far too close. 

“How much do you want me?” Hux asks, voice flat. 

Kylo startles, falling backward and only catching himself against one of the walls just inside Hux’s door. Hux snickers. 

“Don’t try to pretend, Kylo,” he’s almost touching Kylo now, eyes gleaming. “I know how you look at me. I’ve seen the way you try not to lean in. I can feel how you don’t want to let go of my hand when we touch. So now I’m asking. _How much do you want me?_ ”

“Hux,” Kylo licks his lips.

“I’m waiting, Kylo. I need an answer.”

“I do…”

“That wasn’t the question,” Hux says. His arms come up to bracket Kylo’s head, palms resting on the wall just above Kylo’s shoulders. “Should I as it a third time?”

“N-no,” Kylo takes a deep breath. “So much, Hux,” he finally replies. 

Hux grins, sharp and jackal-like. Then his lips are pressing against Kylo’s. Kylo groans a little, deep in his chest. Hux tastes of cigarettes and old coffee. It should be revolting, the taste of long nights and too much works, but with Hux’s tongue licking across his lips and pressing inside him, Kylo can’t find it in himself to be disgusted. Instead, he kisses back. 

His hands come up, and he tries to catch Hux’s waist. Before he can, though, Hux catches his wrists in those steel strong hands. He presses Kylo’s hands back against the wall, leaning into the kiss and pinning him there. Kylo’s heart beats faster in his chest. He shivers as Hux bites his lip. Hux’s canines are sharp, and there are little beads of pain running though him, nestling down where his cock is thickening in his jeans. 

Kylo whimpers. His hips press forwards of their own accord. Hux is solid against him, leaning his weight into Kylo and holding him against the wall. He pulls away from Kylo’s lips, mouth trailing along the line of Kylo’s neck. Hux nips just behind Kylo’s ear, and Kylo moans outright. 

“You like that?” Hux whispers. 

“Yes,” Kylo grunts out harshly.

“I bet you do. So needy, climbing down from your balcony just so you could get close. How many nights did you spend imagining this, imaging me?”

Kylo starts to answer, but Hux makes a hushing sound, murmuring into Kylo’s skin. 

“Don’t tell me. Don’t embarrass yourself. I know. I can feel you, hard already, already aching for me. I bet you think you’re really something. Don’t think I haven’t noticed how wide those shoulders are, even with you hiding them under hoodies and oversized shirts.” Hux steps back, smiling nastily. 

“I’ve noticed,” he continues. “And trust me, Kylo, I like it. But you have to earn this. Have to show me that you deserve me, deserve my cock.”

“Anything,” Kylo murmurs, grinning back. “You talk a big game, Hux. But I can actually play.”

“Come on then,” Hux grins delightedly. He turns away, walking further into the apartment. Kylo follows after. His feet fall heavy on Hux’s polished floor, and his cock presses almost too hard against his jeans. Hux opens a door and disappears inside. When Kylo gets there, it’s a bedroom, all in greys and pale oranges, washed out colors bringing the vibrance of Hux’s hair almost to life. 

Kylo tugs off his hoodie as he steps inside. He rolls his shoulders back as Hux looks lazily at him, perched on the end of the bed. 

“Very nice,” Hux looks him over as if assessing a prize piece of livestock. 

Kylo growls under his breath. It’s a few short steps to where Hux sits, and he covers the distance in an instant. Hux laughs as Kylo presses him back onto the bed. 

“Touchy,” he murmurs in Kylo’s ear as Kylo bites his neck. “I was just giving you a compliment.”

Kylo’s stomach is warm, Hux’s taunts and searching fingers making his skin flame. He slips his hands beneath Hux’s shirt, and lets his own fingers dig into the softness around Hux’s waist. Hux moans, the sound just slipping out of his lips. 

“More?” Kylo growls out. 

“Show me what you can do, if you’re so confident,” Hux’s voice is remarkably steady, even as his cock presses hard against the button of his trousers.

Kylo opens them up without a word, flicking the button on his own at the same time. Hux’s cock is thick, and the zipper slides down on his trousers almost without Kylo’s help. The pants themselves, though, are a little harder to tug off, but Kylo gets them down, letting them pool around Hux’s ankles on the floor. Then he slips off the bed himself, kneeling between Hux’s spread legs. 

“Well, are you going to get on with it?” Hux asks, fingers pinching his own nipples. 

“Impatient,” Kylo chides. 

He presses his face to the short hair around Hux’s cock. It scratches his cheek, trimmed back but still just enough that Hux’s cock nestles there, fat and leaking. Kylo moans. He can’t resist licking along the base quickly, and he’s rewarded with a quick rush of breath from Hux. 

There’s a rustle above him. When he looks up, Hux is sitting up, staring down at him. His eyes are cold fire, and they bite through Kylo hard enough that he has to reach between his own legs and squeeze his own dick quickly. Hux groans at that, and his cock twitches. Kylo goes back to it, kissing up the length of Hux’s dick to the head.

“Come on, Kylo. Suck me. Lick my cock, make me spill over you and get you dirty. Prove you’re worth celebrating with.”

Kylo groans, licking at the slit of Hux’s cock. He tastes salty, and Kylo wants more. He pulls Hux’s cock away from his belly, sealing his lips around the head. It’s thick in his mouth, stretching his lips out. Kylo swallows quickly, mouth flooding with spit as he slides downward. 

“Good boy,” Hux murmurs. 

Kylo’s own cock twitches again at that, and he slips his hand inside his jeans, starting to stroke himself in time with the bobs of his head. 

Hux isn’t as long as some of the people he’s taken before, but his cock is thick, filling Kylo’s mouth and pressing deep into his throat with every flex of his hips. Kylo groans around it. He’s quickly getting to the edge, too close already, the feel of dreams coming true too much for him. 

“You need it so badly, don’t you?” Hux pants above him. “You want my cock in you, you’re gagging on it and you just keep going back for more. Fuck, Kylo, I knew you’d be good.” 

His hips are twitching now, and Kylo can feel how much Hux is holding back. 

“Come on,” he says, pulling off Hux’s cock, his voice harsh. “Fuck my mouth, I can take it. I want to take it. Let me show you, Hux.”

Hux groans. His face is flushed, chest blotchy, and Kylo thinks its an incredible look on him, turned on and snarling, needing more. 

“Want to come on your face after I fuck your throat,” the words are a growl out of Hux’s throat. 

Kylo’s cock pulses, a little bit of precome wetting his boxers. He lifts his hand from it, licking it as he stares at Hux. Then he starts jerking himself off again. 

“If you want to, then do it. Come on, Hux. I’m waiting. Not gonna come till I feel you on my skin.”

Hux says nothing. Instead he takes his own cock in hand, pressing the head of it against Kylo’s lips. Kylo lets Hux press it inside him, relaxing his throat as Hux rocks his hips up and forwards. 

“You have a fucking incredible mouth, Kylo,” Hux groans, hips jerking fast and desperate. Kylo hums in answer, and Hux pauses, shivering. 

He pulls out, hand flying over his cock right in front of Kylo’s face. Kylo sees his balls draw up and lets his eyes ship shut, working his own cock faster. 

Hux’s come is hot when it splashes across his cheeks. Kylo groans, coming too when he feels the wetness. He whimpers, shaking, his stomach wet with it, fingers tight on his cock as he gentles himself though the end of it. 

“Beautiful,” he hears from above himself. 

When he opens his eyes, Hux is staring down at him, eyes softer now. He reaches out, running a finger across Kylo’s cheekbone, smearing his own come into Kylo’s skin. Then he reaches down, pulling Kylo up to the bed. 

“A good celebration?” Kylo asks when he catches his breath. Hux’s fingers are tracing over his skin, slow caresses. 

“More than good,” Hux tells him. He lets his head fall back onto the pillow, grinning. 

“Have you wanted that as long as I have?” Kylo asks curiously.

“Since you jumped down from your porch and introduced yourself,” Hux admits. 

Kylo laughs, his chest warm. For a moment Hux glares. But then he starts to chuckle himself, a carefree sound that makes Kylo’s heart glow even more. 

“I’m going to go have a smoke,” Hux tells him. “Want to get cleaned up?”

Kylo nods, pulling himself off the bed as Hux gestures towards the half open bathroom door. He stumbles inside, grabbing a tissue and scrubbing his face and stomach a little. He’ll have to wash up better at some point, but this will have to do for now. When he steps back out, Hux is pulling on his trousers and straightening his shirt. 

He leads Kylo out of the bedroom after Kylo grabs his sweatshirt. They trace the same path as half an hour ago, back to the front door and their shoes. Then they’re outside, and Kylo wonders if he’s imagined the past few minutes. 

They walk back to the spot in front of Kylo’s apartment, and he hops up on the wall almost by rote. The click and hiss of Hux’s lighter sound loud in the night air. Hux sighs a little, taking a long drag on his cigarette. 

“Hux…” Kylo starts. He needs to know what happened.

Then Hux turns and pulls him into a quick kiss. 

“You’re mine now, Kylo. Not Snoke’s, not anyones, not if you don’t want to be,” he whispers. 

Kylo gasps. Hux’s mouth is hot on his, but he manages to pulls away. He stares at Hux as Hux takes another lazy drag, as though he hasn’t said anything. 

“Maybe…” Kylo manages when he can get himself together.

“I can live with that,” Hux tells him. “Can you?”

Kylo nods slowly, jumping across the wall. He makes his way to the porch below his, not even bothering with the keys in his pocket. When he gets there, he turns back, watching the dim glow between Hux’s fingers. 

“Again tomorrow?” he asks, voice thin. 

Hux nods slowly. Kylo jumps up to grab the deck and pull himself up to his own apartment. When he’s over the railing, Hux gets off the wall, stepping closer to look up at Kylo with eyes that burn again. 

“Goodnight, Kylo. Sweet dreams.”

Then he’s off down the alley and Kylo is alone, smelling of come and need, alone with an offer that he already knows he’s not going to be able to resist.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks, as always to [artyaourter](http://artyaourter.tumblr.com) and [thecopperriver](http://thecopperriver.tumbler.com) for being sounding blocks. 
> 
> I was talking to my partner the other day about how to plot fic, and one of the things that occurred to me was that I was struggling with the idea of conflict. Not every fic has to have an antagonist, and not every story has to be full of angst. Sometimes, it can be the story of two people living their lives, finding themselves as those lives intersect. And this is one of those stories. 
> 
> Find me on tumblr at [saltandlimes](http://saltandlimes.tumblr.com/).


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